Police: Reasons why Jowie should be jailed

Chief Inspector Maxwel Otieno presents exhibits recovered from Monica Kimani’s home at Lamuria Gardens. [David Gichuru, Standard]

An investigating officer has told the court that Joseph Irungu alias Jowie and former journalist Jacqueline Maribe were directly responsible for the murder of businesswoman Monica Kimani.

Chief Inspector Maxwel Otieno laid the basis for singling out the two to face the murder charges, stating that an analysis of the evidence collected by the homicide detective showed how they played different roles before, during and after Kimani’s death.

“We found out overwhelming evidence against the two accused persons which made us recommend the charges of murder. They were both responsible for killing of the woman in her house after she returned from a business trip,” said Otieno.

The investigator who is the last prosecution witness in the case backed up his testimony with evidence of exhibits recovered from Kimani’s home at Lamuria Gardens and the former lovers’ home at Royal Park Estate within Langata area.

The items he produced were from each scene which he took the judge for a visit on Wednesday, and which were confirmed by previous witnesses as having been recovered from Jowie and Maribe.

Otieno in his statement gave 12 reasons why he concluded that Jowie was the person who unleashed the final blow leading Ms Kimani death while for Maribe, the investigator gave five reasons to prove her involvement in the murder.

“Our case against Jowie is that he was the last person with the deceased and a DNA analysis by the government chemist confirmed that blood stains recovered on the brown shorts he wore on the night of murder matched the blood samples of the deceased,” said Otieno.

He added that during an identification parade, three witnesses positively identified Jowie as having been in Kimani’s house on the night she was killed while another witness confirmed that Jowie had told him he was going to visit his girlfriend who had just returned from South Sudan.

In addition, the investigator told the court that Jowie had changed his dressings into a white kanzu in the presence of a witness, the same clothes which were confirmed by the security guards at Lamuria Gardens.

“After committing the murder, he was seen wearing the same cap while in the company of Maribe at a club in Westlands area. He also appeared disturbed immediately after committing the offence and told one of his friends that he had quarrelled with the girlfriend from South Sudan,” said Otieno.

Joseph Irungu alias Jowie. [Collins Kweyu, Standard] 

He added that a guard at Lamuria Gardens had confirmed that Jowie presented a stolen identity card to register at the entrance and that analysis of the call data records placed him at the scene of murder around the time Kimani was killed.

Otieno’s evidence against Maribe was that her car was spotted close to the scene of murder and that she was seen on the same car the night Kimani was killed.

According to the investigator, Maribe was within the area of the incident and switched off her phone around the time the murder was allegedly being committed and later witnessed when Jowie burnt his clothes to destroy evidence outside her residence.

“Maribe also gave two contradicting statements to investigators concerning injuries sustained by Jowie. This character depicted her as a dishonest person hence our suspicion that she was an accomplice to the murder,” said Otieno.

According to the investigator, Maribe had reported at Langata Police Station that Jowie was attacked and shot by thugs outside her residence but later told investigators from the DCI headquarters that Jowie had shot himself on the shoulder in her house.

Jowie and Maribe are accused of killing Kimani on the night of September 19, 2018, at Lamuria Gardens Apartment in Kilimani area within Nairobi County a few hours after she returned from a business trip to South Sudan.

The hearing was adjourned to July 11 when the investigator will continue with his testimony before the prosecution closes its case.